Spring 2006

www.zeum.org

Zeum is a place where youth and families use arts and technology tools to tell their stories, build their voices, and get inspired to create their own multimedia works of art.

Its ZeumMasters program is a structured, three-year employment and training program that focuses on developing advanced creative and technical skills with an emphasis on leadership development, community service, and mentorship. Teens ages 15 to 18 are hired each year to serve as paid Zeum visitor guides, facilitating the Zeum experience by assisting visitors of all ages in activities such as creating clay animation movies, music videos, and digital art.

“Koret has been an invaluable community partner and resource,” said Zeum CEO Adrienne Pon. “Their generous support of the ZeumMasters Youth Initiative has enabled us to expand our reach and increase the quality of our training. Koret’s support and guidance have been critical to our success.”

Along with their employment, ZeumMasters receive training to advance their creative and technical skills from beginner to expert level, and third-year teens complete certification as a “master” in at least one area of expertise, such as animation, graphic design, or video editing.

In the museum’s Animators’ Studio, visitors can create characters, develop storyboards, and use various multimedia tools and processes to produce clay-animated, stop-motion movies. The Digital Workshop is a high-tech classroom with state-of-the-art computers, digital cameras, and printers where learners and teachers can experiment with digital animation, illustration, video editing, 3D modeling, multimedia presentations, web page design, Internet exploration, and collaborative projects. The Production Lab features full-sized video cameras, a green screen with background images, sound equipment, and a production booth where visitors can create music videos, dramas, or newscasts.

Placing young people in control of the creative process, Zeum offers them opportunities to excel individually, interpersonally, and innovatively.

Explorer teams include the Enviro Team, the Media Team, the Astronomy Team, and Community Outreach teams. Enviro team members lead a number of hands-on activities and demonstrations at the museum and in the community related to environmental science topics, including the solar car challenge, atmospheric science demonstrations, composting, gardening, and exploration of the watershed on which Chabot is located. The astronomy team fully refurbished a 16-inch Dobsonian telescope (which they named Maya, after poet Maya Angelou) that they now use when assisting visitors on the telescope plaza.

Serving 100 youth each year, Chabot’s Galaxy Explorers exemplify Koret’s goals in funding youth docent programs.